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Myanmar army faces a new threat from armed ethnic foes who open a new front in a western state

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government, under pressure in the country’s northeast where it recently lost strategic territory to an alliance of armed ethnic groups, faced a fresh challenge Monday when one of the groups launched attacks in the western state of Rakhine.The Arakan Army launched surprise assaults on two outposts of the Border Guard Police, a para-military force, in Rakhine’s Rathedaung township, according to independent online media and residents of the area. The attacks took place despite a yearlong cease-fire with Myanmar’s military government.The Arakan Army is the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement seeking autonomy from the central government. Rakhine is also known by its older name of Arakan. It’s the site of a brutal army counterinsurgency operation in 2017 that drove about 740,000 minority Rohingya Muslims to seek safety across the border in Bangladesh.Fighting was also reported between the rebels and the ...

Indonesian Election Commission approves all three candidates for president

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s Election Commission announced Monday that it has approved all three presidential candidates for next February’s election, including a former special forces general whose vice-presidential running mate is the son of outgoing President Joko Widodo.The commission said all of the candidates had passed the legal requirements. Last month, the Constitutional Court in a controversial 5-4 ruling allowed Widodo’s son, 36-year-old Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to run despite not meeting the minimum age requirement of 40 for presidential and vice-presidential candidates.The court, headed by Widodo’s brother-in-law, said it granted an exception for Raka because he is currently mayor of Surakarta. Pro-democracy activists criticized the decision as nepotism that undermined the democratic process. The chief justice was later dismissed after the court’s ethics council found him guilty of a serious violation.Raka is the running mate of president...

European Union calls for an investigation into the massacre of nearly 100 civilians in Burkina Faso

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The European Union is calling for an investigation into the massacre of nearly 100 civilians including women and children in Burkina Faso.The killings took place in the village of Zaongo in the Center-North region earlier this month, the EU said in a statement Sunday.“The European Union calls on the transitional authorities to shed light on the circumstances of this killing in order to determine responsibility,” it said.It’s unclear who perpetrated the attacks, Burkina Faso’s government didn’t respond to a request for comment.The West African nation has been grappling with a jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group for years. Thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million internally displaced.The violence has led to two coups, with the current junta seizing power in September 2022. The junta, led by Capt. Ibrahim Traore, has been accused by rights groups of committing abuses against civilians and cracking ...

Spain’s Parliament to vote on Prime Minister Sánchez’s reelection. Catalan amnesty deal causes furor

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The investiture debate and vote to reelect acting Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will take place later this week, Spain’s Parliament speaker said Monday.Speaker Francina Armengol said Sanchez’s candidacy will be discussed by party leaders Wednesday and the vote will take place after the debate Thursday.Sánchez, who has been in office since 2018, is expected to be voted in with no problems given that his Socialist party has reached deals with a bunch of small parties to ensure he has the backing of 179 legislators, three more than the 176 majority required in Parliament in a first vote. Spain’s July 23 inconclusive elections left all parties without a clear path to form government. The right-of-center Popular Party, under Alberto Núñez Feijóo, won the most seats in the election with 137. But because of its close ties with the extreme right Vox party, almost no other party backed Feijóo’s investiture bid in September.Sánchez’s Socialists w...

Japanese vice minister resigns over tax scandal in another setback for Kishida’s unpopular Cabinet

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese vice finance minister stepped down on Monday, amid criticism from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet, after admitting his company’s repeated failures to pay taxes, a further setback to Kishida’s unpopular government. Deputy Finance Minister Kenji Kanda, in charge of government bonds and monetary policy, is the third member of Kishida’s Cabinet to resign within two months following a Cabinet shuffle in September. Kishida later told reporters that he takes responsibility for the appointment of Kanda. “I must apologize to the people that a vice finance minister had to resign soon after he assumed his position,” Kishida said. “I’m determined to concentrate on our work more seriously, as I believe that’s the only way to regain the people’s trust.”Kanda, a tax accountant-turned-lawmaker, admitted that land and property belonging to his company was seized by the authorities four times between 2013 and 2022 after fa...

Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger is running for governor instead of seeking reelection to the House

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

HENRICO, Va. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger announced Monday she will run for Virginia governor in 2025 instead of seeking reelection to the U.S. House next year.Spanberger, a three-term Democrat, made the announcement in a campaign video, highlighting the importance of lowering prescription drug prices, growing the middle class and easing inflation. In a video titled “What Matters Most,” Spanberger also emphasized the importance of recruiting and retaining teachers “and stopping extremists from shredding women’s reproductive rights.”“Our country and our Commonwealth are facing fundamental threats to our rights, our freedoms, and to our democracy,” Spanberger said. “While some politicians in Richmond focus on banning abortion and books, what they’re not doing is helping people.”Spanberger represents Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, a key swing seat in northern Virginia that will be up for election next year. Her decision not to seek reelection in the House could lea...

Liz Weston: How to reduce your ‘widow’s penalty’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

After a spouse dies, the survivor often ends up paying higher taxes on less income — something known by accountants and financial planners as the “widow’s penalty,” because women typically outlive their husbands.Couples who know what’s coming often can take steps to soften the penalty’s effect, but too many don’t think far enough ahead, says Barbara O’Neill, a certified financial planner and educator in Ocala, Florida.“A lot of people just underestimate what the impact will be financially,” O’Neil says.INCOMES PLUNGE BUT EXPENSES MAY NOTA spouse’s death often leads to a substantial drop in income. Wages or salary typically end if the deceased spouse was still working, and many people don’t have enough life insurance to replace that loss.If a couple is retired and receiving Social Security, the benefit amount can drop by one third to one half. The survivor gets the larger of the two checks the couple received, and the smaller benefit goes away. If the deceased spouse received pension...

Illinois man fatally shot while waterfowl hunting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is investigating a fatal hunting incident in Guthrie County, according to a news release.Seth Egelhoff, 26, of Chesterfield, Illinois, was killed Saturday while waterfowl hunting at the Bays Branch Wildlife Area in Guthrie County, the release says. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Department received an emergency call around 1 p.m. about a hunter suffering a gunshot wound to the face at Bays Branch Wildlife Area.  Egelhoff was transported by Panora EMS. Lifesaving measures were given enroute to Life Flight but were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced deceased shortly after leaving the scene.The incident remains under investigation by the Iowa DNR Law Enforcement Bureau.  The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Department, Panora EMS, and Iowa State Patrol assisted in the investigation.The wildlife area is open for public use.

Monday Forecast: Temps in low 60s with sunny conditions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

CHICAGO — Temperatures in lower 50s with sunny conditions. Winds: W 5-15 G25. High: 61. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storms here Clear tonight. Winds: WNW 0-5. Low: 36.Tuesday Forecast: Mostly sunny, SSW 5-10 G20. High: 60.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog

Incentive plan for Minneapolis police aims to end exodus of officers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:57:25 GMT

The city of Minneapolis has agreed during negotiations with the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis that it will provide $15.3 million in incentives to retain police officers over the next three years. It’s intended to reverse what Chief Brian O’Hara called the exodus of police officers from the department.In exchange, the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis agreed to give the police chief the authority to assign officers to vacant shifts more quickly.O’Hara said the current process officers use to bid for shifts under the union contract requires that vacant shifts be open for a minimum of 28 days. The agreement shortens the vacancy duration to 10 days.“Under the current contract, without this change, it could take almost seven weeks to permanently reassign someone to a vacancy in 911, depending on where the 28-day pay cycle falls,” O’Hara said. “With that, we’ll be able to do permanent reassignments much quicker, this is in the interest of public safety.”“Yes, we need t...